The Power of Sin

I met with a man today as I worked in my van from a Walmart in Florida. It broke my heart.  I felt the hopelessness of his heart and felt there to be nothing I could do. I offered him Jesus.

He approached looking for a dollar. I asked him what he needed it for and maybe I could help.  He saw my pack of sodas and said he just was looking to buy a soda to drink.  I told him he could just take one of mine.  I then asked if he needed food.  He didn’t want to take any but reluctantly agreed.  I then asked if he would like for me to pray for him.  He then started to cry. 

Mike told me that he was a drunk and lived on the beach and if I could pray that he would stop drinking and find a place to live. I told him I would and we prayed together right there.  But when I finished praying, he told me he didn’t want to stop drinking.  He said he was actively trying to do everything he could against God’s will.  He knew the truth but refused to submit.  My heart was broken. How can this be?  He knew his life was in shambles but desired alcohol more than anything in his life.  But I know his struggle.

We spoke more and I listened as he told me about the torture of his desire for sobriety but his insatiable need for alcohol.  I listened as he cried over his broken life yet his refusal to submit to God’s rule in it.  I listened as he explained how alcohol had taken so much yet he still wanted to give it so much more. I listened to this man and tried to empathize with his pain. I tried to bear the weight of his struggle. I offered him Jesus.

This recalls to memory what I have been reading through Exodus.  God tells Moses to stand up to Pharaoh.  He says let him know that you are leaving and will worship the true God. But he also tells him that Pharaoh will not let him go without a strong hand. 

This man wants to be free from alcohol. He wants to commune with God, he wants to break the chains of addiction, but his Pharaoh, his own heart, won’t let him.  And he knows this.  Mike said that people always tell him he can stop drinking if he wants.  But he told me with tears in his eyes, “I can’t stop.  I do not have the ability to.” My only reply was “You can’t but God can.”  

Mike thanked me for praying for him and asked me to pray for him again.  He told me he loved me and gave me a hug. He then walked away. I am left now thinking “what more could I have done?”  

Is there sin in my life that has me gripped.  Is there an idol that has captured me? Where am I in regards to my life and Jesus as priority?  These questions I ask of myself but I also ask you. Sin is deep and it is powerful.

There is no happiness in me! Who can set me free from my sinful old self? Romans 7:24

“...Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go. Exodus 3:18-20